Published 5:09 pm, Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Might it become the city's 800-pound gorilla, hogging acts and ticket sales?

More likely is the evolution of San Antonio into an entertainment market able to attract more and different kinds of acts.

Some acts will gravitate to the Tobin. Others will fill the AT&T Center or Alamodome. And others will go to the Majestic, Aztec or Charline McCombs Empire theaters.

That's our hope because this will mean an abundance — and a diversity — of entertainment to fit San Antonio, a market with diverse tastes ranging from conjunto to hip hop.

And it has the number of people — 2.14 million in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area — for the potential to keep seats filled and those acts coming.

A recent Express-News article by Deborah Martin reveals that all the city's competitors for these acts are being aggressive in booking in anticipation of the Tobin opening. And this can only be good for San Antonio.

The Tobin Center was born amid some controversy.

Critics objected to its construction, because of the Municipal Auditorium's history.

The new center — world class and cutting edge — will enable new memories, befitting a world-class, cutting-edge city.

Austin's experience with the Long Center is instructive here. It has meant an across-the-board wealth of acts and events.

There is no reason that San Antonio — the seventh-most populous city in the country — can't similarly benefit.